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Mental health and learning disability milestones through the decades
Since the NHS was founded on 5 July 1948 there have been huge changes in the way we think about mental health and learning disability – and in how we support people. Take a look at some of the key milestones and developments over the last 70 years and how they have affected what we do in Devon.
In
1969
There are 58,850 people with learning difficulties in NHS hospitals.
In
1966
There are 107 hospitals for mentally unwell people in the UK, each with at least 200 inpatients.
In
1961
Suicide Act 1961 decriminalises the act of suicide in England and Wales, meanting those who failed in the attempt to take their own life will no longer be prosecuted.
In
1961
Enoch Powell Water Tower speech. Enoch Powell, Minister of Health, gives a ground-breaking speech on mental health, signalling the end of asylums.